Jumia, Africa’s leading e-commerce platform and Mastercard on Monday announced a partnership to incentivize the use of cashless payments platforms as people look for safer ways to pay in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through this initiative, consumers who purchase essential products using their Mastercard on the Jumia platform will receive up to a 10 per cent discount on their order, encouraging consumers to safely transact using digital payment channels and avoid human-to-human contact, in line with recommendations from global and regional health authorities and governments.

“We are proud to partner with Mastercard as part of our social commitment and business responsiveness to the global pandemic. We are also happy to support our customers by offering them a strong incentive to use cashless payments and providing access to essential products with affordable prices during this challenging time.

“This incentive will help drive more consumers to adopt JumiaPay, the safe and digital payment method,” said Sami Louali, EVP Financial Services at Jumia.

The discount offers from Mastercard and Jumia will be available in five countries including Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

“This partnership supports the various government cashless payment policies in each of these countries. This is an additional step to limit cash exchange at this time,” he added.

“We are uniquely positioned to step up and be part of Africa’s response strategy in this challenging time. We have implemented a “Contactless” delivery option, which eliminates any possibility of physical contact. Convenience, social distancing and cashless measures are woven into one solution to combat the current situation,” said Massimiliano Spalazzi, Jumia Nigeria CEO.

Commenting on the partnership, Raghav Prasad, Division President, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mastercard, said: “Our mission at Mastercard is to connect and power up a world beyond cash that benefits everyone, everywhere through transactions that are safe, simple, smart, and accessible.

Our partnership with Jumia seeks to further encourage Mastercard consumers to stay safe by using available digital payment platforms to purchase their essential items all from the comfort of their own homes in a clean, seamless and convenient experience. We look forward to further collaborations with our partners to continue delivering such relevant solutions, enabling people to #staysafe.”

Consumers in these five markets can be a part of this promotional offer by logging on to the Jumia platform, shop and pay for their essential goods on the JumiaPay portal, using their Mastercard, and automatically receive up to 10 percent discount.